ACP as a source of information
Source: El Nuevo Siglo – National
Date: February 16
Headline: 10 tasks of the new cabinet for this 2020
Lowering unemployment, reducing murders against social leaders, agreeing on a major reform of the pension system, re-implementing glyphosate spraying, and consolidating a coalition that allows progress on key initiatives are some of the main goals that the national government has for 2020. (…) 5. Fracking. The decision on whether or not to implement fracking in the country appears as one of the important news of the year. (…) Despite the fact that in previous days the Ministry of Mines made an adjustment to the text, it remains to be established whether it will make new changes according to the recent ruling of the Administrative Court of Cundinamarca, which calls for taking into account key elements in the regulation such as the protection of aquifers or a health baseline. The Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP) recently presented its expectations regarding the production of the sector and the advances that will be made in terms of fracking during this year. Responded in:elnuevosiglo.com.co (February 16).
GREMIO
Source: El Espectador
Date: February 17
Headline: Taxes or public debt. By. Salomón Kalmanovitz
Las consecuencias de la prodigalidad del Gobierno frente a la tributación de las empresas en la llamada Ley de Financiamiento comienzan a emerger. Según Sergio Clavijo, en un análisis cuidadoso de la trayectoria de la deuda pública, después de la reducción en los ingresos sanos del Gobierno pasa de representar más de la mitad del PIB colombiano, unos $550 billones, al 55,3%, o sea, se eleva en otros $50 billones en 2025 (La República, 12 de febrero). (…) Otra marrullada del ministro de Hacienda fue contabilizar las utilidades del Banco de la República y de Ecopetrol, que sumaron 2 l P1B, como ingresos recurrentes, que obviamente no lo son. Así, pudo obtener un supuesto superávit que existe en su imaginación, pero que ni los economistas serios, ni los mercados financieros ni el FMI se lo creen.
Source: El Nuevo Siglo
Date: February 17
Headline: Char and Blanco, presidents of the Senate and House in the next legislature
Senator Arturo Char, from Cambio Radical, and the representative from Antioquia, Germán Blanco, from the Conservative Party, will be the presidents of the Senate and the House of Representatives during the 2020-2021 legislature, which will begin on July 20, if the agreements of the parties are fulfilled. (…) Who are the next presidents? (…) Arturo Char. In the March 2018 elections, he received 126,628 votes, the first vote of the Cambio Radical party. This is his third term as a senator of the Republic. In his first term (2006-2010), he was the rapporteur of three bills, one that enshrined the change of legal nature of Ecopetrol; the second, gave the green light to the Agro Income Security Program; and the third, established the Sanctioning Procedure for Environmental Damage.
Source: El Heraldo
Date: February 17
Headline: House vs. jail: the debate over a sick inmate
The house arrest measure granted last week to Samuel Enrique Viñas Abohomor opened the legal and medical debate about the health status of an inmate and his possibilities of accessing some type of benefit due to his illness, whether to serve his sentence at home or in a hospital. (…) The decision was made after the former magistrate of the Cúcuta Court, Fernando Castañeda Cantillo, was sentenced to 21 years in prison for causing damages to Ecopetrol; however, the Court initially maintained house arrest for the former lawyer due to alleged serious illness, while Forensic Medicine issued a new report.
Source: girardot.extra.com.co
Date: February 17
Headline: Community opposes mining project in Melgar
The Melgar community spoke out to request a review by the Regional Autonomous Corporation of Tolima (Cortolima) regarding the impact of oil extraction companies on the stream in the Buenavista village and its water sources. The water resources in the municipality have been affected by the activity of the oil industry, specifically by the company Perenco, which has a presence in the area. The inhabitants of the villages Buenavista, Guacamayas, Inalí, San Cristóbal, Resacas, and Chimbí united to express their discontent regarding the danger that an extraction well represents for everyone, as they were never consulted about this relocation. The problem. A well of this nature has characteristics that harm the soil, especially in these rural areas with tributaries like the sources of the Melgar villages, as to locate an oil well a drill must penetrate the ground and affect the entire functioning of the deposits, in order to extract gas and oil.
Topics
Source: El Espectador
Date: February 17
Headline: The challenge of improving logistical competitiveness
Reducing the times and costs of the logistics chain to position Colombia as a benchmark in the field in Latin America is the main purpose of the new National Logistics Policy (Conpes 3982), presented at the beginning of this month by the National Government and projected to achieve a significant increase in competitiveness over the next five years. (…) In Colombia, the bulk of the cargo over the last 15 years has been moved by road (73.5%). Then, the rail mode has a much smaller share (23.6%), the river mode (1.5%), cabotage (1.3%), and the air mode (0.1%). But if coal and oil were excluded from the list, the road mode would represent 97.0% and the rail would not reach 0.1%, ’which shows that there is a low level of utilization of product mobilization in other modes, even with the potential reduction in transportation operating costs,« warns the Conpes.
Source: La República
Date: February 17
Headline: The dollar will remain below $3,400 this week
During last week, the price of the dollar in Colombia fell $30.06 and the Representative Market Rate (TRM) for today is at $3,378.29. (…) In addition, Camila Martínez, economic analyst at Fiduciaria Central, explained that the market regained optimism regarding the latest estimates from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, about a lower impact on crude prices due to the virus in China. “It is forecasted that for this week the price of the WTI barrel will close at an average of US$53.74. In line with the oil trend, a slight strengthening of the Colombian currency is expected against other currencies, such as the dollar,” she said.
Source: Portafolio
Date: February 17
Headline: Opening inward. By: Mauricio Cabrera Galvis
The facts are stubborn. Contrary to the opinion of some economists who seem to have become science fiction writers, and claim without blushing that the Colombian economy is today as closed as it was before the opening of the 90s, official statistics show that imports continue to displace national producers, and what was done in Colombia was an inward opening. (…) It is not a new or recent phenomenon. Between the year 2000 and 2014, GDP grew 86% and imports 241%, that is, almost three times more. Starting in 2014, the devaluation induced by the oil price crisis halted the trend and growth rates were similar for 4 years, but we already saw that in 2019 we returned to our old ways.
Source: Portafolio
Date: February 17
Headline: In January, foreign investment grew 70%: Banrepública
In the first month of the current year, foreign direct investment (FDI) that arrived in the country grew 69.9%, according to figures from the Balance of Payments of the Bank of the Republic. This, after Colombia went from receiving US$769.4 million in the same period of 2019 to US$1.306 billion in FDI in January of the current year. It is worth mentioning that when reviewing the data by sectors, the oil and mining sector decreased by 7.10%, going from US$637.5 million in the mentioned period of 2019 to US$592 million in January 2020. (…) For its part, FDI in oil, hydrocarbons, and mining increased by 4.9%, as it went from US$6.536.2 million in 2018 to US$6.857.8 million in 2019. And in other sectors, investment increased by 62.63%, as it reached US$3.508.3 million in 2019 and in 2018 it had been US$2.157.2 million.
Source: Portafolio
Date: February 17
Headline: Sectoral lag
Last Friday, Dane published the economic results for 2019. Although the report brought the good news of a 3.3% increase in GDP (the highest since 2014), the performance of some economic sectors left more concern than optimism. (…) The strengthening of these two sectors is crucial if Colombia seeks to establish a solid and stable economy, capable of generating exportable and diversified goods and reducing its high dependence on coal and oil. It is worth noting that both manufacturing industries and agriculture are sectors with high potential for job creation.
Source: La Opinión
Date: February 17
Headline: Coronavirus would have effects on oil
The International Energy Agency reported a decrease in its forecasts for global oil demand due to the «significant» consequences of the coronavirus. The demand for 2020 would be 825,000 barrels per day, 365,000 less than in its previous forecast, reaching its lowest level since 2011.
Institutional
Source: La República
Date: February 17
Headline: Regulation of the ‘Works for Royalties’ mechanism. By: Erika Serrano
On January 28, 2020, the National Government issued Decree 098 with the purpose of regulating the ‘Works for Royalties for the Development of Territorial Entities’ mechanism, established in Law 1942 of 2018. (…) Administrative and fiduciary expenses will not be part of the project value, nor will they count as payment of royalties. These costs will be borne by the interested company. How is the payment for royalties credited under this modality? The accreditation of the payment of royalties may be requested once the execution certification and receipt of the project issued by the beneficiary entity is sent, prior to certification of satisfactory receipt by the oversight. The accreditation request will be submitted to the ANH or ANM, so that these entities recognize and certify -within the following 30 days- the executed work as payment of royalties.
Source: La República
Date: February 17
Headline: In January, more cargo was moved by the Magdalena
The cargo mobilized by the Magdalena River rose 92% in January, compared to the same month in 2018, according to the report from Cormagdalena, led by Pedro Jurado. Specifically, 223,695 tons were transported, and the largest increase was recorded in the hydrocarbons category, with a rise of 77%, for a total of 1.3 million barrels. Regarding dry cargo, the participation went from 8% to 14%, with 31,833 tons.
Source: Portafolio
Date: February 17
Headline: Gas: the country's supply is higher than the demand
While Cusiana and Cupiagua account for the largest deliveries of this fuel to the market, thermal plants and the industrial sector consume more than 50% of the energy source. In terms of natural gas supply, the country can sleep easy as it slightly exceeds the growing demand for the fuel in the national territory. (…) “This diversification is due to the sustained decline of the aforementioned fields in La Guajira, the decrease in supply from the La Creciente field, the commercial production start of several fields operated by new market players, and the operation of the Cartagena regasification plant,” he said. (…) today the reality is that the volumes that the Chuchupa and Ballena fields stopped delivering (27%) are being supplemented by imports through the Cartagena regasification plant (2%), as well as Jobo, La Creciente, Gibraltar, and other smaller fields. “To continue advancing in the Energy Transformation, it is essential to secure new sources of natural gas, a key fuel in the transition to cleaner and more environmentally responsible sources,” said the Minister of Mines and Energy, María Fernanda Suárez.
Colombian Association of Oil and Gas